We are the ones who don’t know most of the characters from popular TV shows, so we may not be able to hold a conversation about pop culture, and that can be awkward.

They are the children who think outside the box and come up with ideas you never considered, which means sometimes you don’t understand them at first.

They might be shy at times, because they are (rightly) wary of strange adults walking up and asking them personal questions or trying to gauge their academic knowledge.

I was just speaking with another homeschool mom about how homeschooling is truly a way of life. It’s not just how we “do school,” it is a life philosophy that encompasses our every day. This seems to be the biggest misunderstanding for people who do not homeschool. They simply don’t comprehend how it just becomes your way of living, maybe because they haven’t done it and it’s something that has to be learned through experience, or maybe they choose not to understand it because they disagree with homeschooling in the first place. Well, even if we are weirdos, we are confidant and competent weirdos.

This article originally appeared on my old blog, Townsley Times. If you came here looking for this particular article but thought you were going to a different site, never fear, you’re actually in the right place. 🙂

There are as many ways to homeschool as there are homeschool families. But I’m betting that most of us see homeschooling as a lifestyle choice.

Parks are our classrooms. It could be for a nature walk, or it could be to sit and have a picnic while doing a workbook. Maybe it’s PE or art class. This is homeschooling.

The kitchen is a place to learn math and science. You know, real world application of knowledge. This is homeschooling.

The library is one of our favorite places. It supplies free resources to use in place of textbooks. And activities for the kids to meet other people of varying ages. This is homeschooling.

YouTube videos are included in lesson plans. Relatives become guest speakers. A trip to the antique store becomes a history lesson. This is homeschooling.

Our kids have random knowledge and abilities in comparison with those in public or private school. We can nurture their interests and feed their growing brains at THEIR pace. We keep them interested and most of school is engaging. Because it’s a lifestyle, not a chore that we’re forced into five days a week, eight hours a day.

No buses, no homework, no backpacks required. We do things at home or take field trips as desired.

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No grades, no weekly progress reports to sign and no quarterly report cards to be anxious about. They are either learning or not; behaving or not. We see what they are doing firsthand, day in and day out.

Some might see us as weirdos, and maybe compared with “normal” society, we are. But we are creating well-rounded critical thinkers. We love learning and know HOW to learn. We are not boring nor stuffy as we always have something fun and different (and maybe a little crazy) up our sleeves. Pardon us while we learn.

This post is part of a roundup about Why We Homeschool at the Homeschool Review Crew.

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4 replies to We Are Those Weirdo Homeschoolers

I love this. I think we are a fellow weirdo homeschooling family. However, like you I think we’re well rounded and headed in the right direction with our kids. Yes, it is a lifestyle. Granted, I do “official” school hours Mon-Friday for five hours a day, but I do feel we are consistently learning something every day too.